


The World Burns

by dearzoemurphy



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergent, Confrontation, F/F, First Kiss, confession of feelings, d slur tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 09:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15660090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearzoemurphy/pseuds/dearzoemurphy
Summary: what if Janis had confronted Cady after the Burn Book pages flooded the halls?





	The World Burns

**Author's Note:**

> hi I would sell my soul for more works with these two and I'm sorry for writing angst but,,,, I needed to write this oof

_“Janis is a space dyke!”_

“Wow, how original,” Janis said, rolling her eyes as a page fluttered into her hands.

“Damian Hubbard is almost too gay to function?” Damian said incredulously.

“It's only okay when I call you that! And the only other person who could have known is…” Janis started.

“Cady,” her friend finished.

Janis could only stare down at the paper in her hand. A million different emotions flickered through her mind before she settled on one; the feeling of betrayal.

_“How could Caddy do this? Why would she do this? Does she even care about us anymore? Did she ever?”_

Something snapped inside her. She wasn't sure what it was, but it compelled her to storm off in the direction of the classroom where she knew she'd find Cady. Her legs felt like lead as she picked them up and put them down, taking more effort than walking had ever taken her before. It wasn't until she saw her friend, her ex-friend, her whatever, about to enter the room.

Janis reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“Wha- Janis? What are you-”

“Why did you tell them Damian was almost too gay to function? Who printed out the pages? Why…why does mine say sp-space dyke?” she asked, tears threatening to spill out, her breath becoming increasingly labored.

“Wait…what happened? What do you mean?” Cady gaped.

“The burn book pages! They're all over the halls! Damian’s picture said ‘almost too gay to function’ and mine said ‘Janis Sarkisian is a space dyke’ and I don't understand how you could do this,” Janis said, sounding heartbroken.

“I didn't do anything! I accidentally said the thing about Damian in front of them, but I didn't mean it in a bad way! And yours had been in there for a long time. I didn't print them and I don't know who did…” the redhead tried to defend herself.

“It doesn't matter!” Janis screamed, her tears spilling over, “what matters is that you could have done something to stop this, and you didn't! You let them continue being cruel, you let them keep calling me that. You…you- you know how much that hurts. You know I went to therapy over that, right? You know that whenever I hear the word ‘dyke’ my throat closes up and I can't move? You know that I used to love going to planetariums every single weekend, but I haven't been since the incident because the very thought of space is almost sickening? And you didn't care. You didn't…didn't try to help,” she concluded, hollow.

Cady was shocked silent.

Janis pulled the sleeve of her jacket over her hand and wiped at her eyes. “And it's fine. I understand. Gotta be popular and shit, totally got it,” she mumbled sarcastically.

The bell signaling the start of the next class period rang.

“Janis…I'm sorry,” Cady said quietly.

Her English teacher called out to her. She didn't move.

Janis shook her head, tears still streaming down her face, audible sobs wracking her body. “It's fine! It's…it's really fine,” she yelled, crumbling to the ground.

The teacher shrugged and turned away from the pair, shutting the door.

Cady put her books on the floor, rushing over to catch the brunette. She turned Janis so she was supported by the wall, sitting next to her.

“It's like you never even cared about me. And I've been like, in love with you from the start,” Janis sputtered out, still shaking and crying.

“Oh…” the redhead said, simply shocked and doing her best to support and comfort her sobbing friend, “I…I had no idea you felt that way.”

Janis sniffled and buried her head into Cady’s shoulder.

Cady moved her arms around her friend. “But…I care about you. A lot,” she added.

“Don't lie to me,” the brunette replied quietly.

“Janis! I do! I started pretending to be a Plastic for you. I did everything you and Damian told me to do because I cared about you,” Cady retorted.

Janis went quiet, shaking slightly. “Maybe. But you don't care anymore. I know you haven't for a while. I've known for sure since that fucking party,” she said, rubbing her temple.

Cady was shocked. “No offense, but what reason do I have to believe you guys cared about me?! You convinced me to do some pretty awful stuff, and I did it all! I did everything you told me to,” she exclaimed.

Her friend paused and shifted so that she was sitting up.

“We…we shouldn't have told you to do those things. We were bad friends too,” she admitted, moving to wipe her continually dripping eyes.

“Yeah. I guess we need a start-over of sorts,” the redhead agreed. Janis responded by turning towards her and burrowing into her shoulder again. Cady bit back tears and tightened her embrace, pulling her friend even closer.

“I know we were all bad friends, but…this hurts. This hurts a lot more than anything else that's happened between us,” Janis murmured.

“I…I'm sorry, Janis. Really, I am,” her friend said sincerely.

“Wait, did…did I say I loved you?” Janis asked, suddenly freezing, mortified.

Cady opened her mouth and went silent for a moment. “Um…yes. You did,” she answered.

The brunette groaned. “I'm so sorry for making this…weirder. I saw those words next to my face and something just…broke. I broke. I can't even control what's coming out of my mouth right now,” she groaned, gazing off into space.

“Do you wanna ditch? We can go out and keep talking through this, maybe get ice cream or something?” Cady suggested suddenly.

“Yeah. That sounds nice,” Janis agreed, sniffling, “we could take my car, but I don't think I'm in a state to drive right now.”

“I could. I have my permit,” the redhead offered.

“Okay. I'm cool with that,” Janis said. Cady squeezed her friend then stood up, offering a hand to help Janis up. She looped one of her arms around the redhead’s shoulders as she started to lead them towards an exit near the back where they wouldn’t be caught sneaking out.

The pair slipped out without incident and Janis led them toward her car, unlocking it and letting Cady open the passenger’s door for her.

“Um, can I have the keys? You know, to start the car,” the redhead asked, holding out her hand.

Janis fished them out of her pocket and handed them over. Cady started the car and timidly pulled out of the parking lot, starting their completely silent car ride. The brunette had no idea where her friend was taking her, but felt too exhausted to care. She actually drifted off to sleep for a bit, only waking up when the gentle motion of the car stopped suddenly and the pair found themselves at a park.

“Is this where you wanted to go?” Janis asked, stretching and yawning.

Cady nodded. “Yes. The lake is really pretty here,” she explained simply.

The two girls rolled out of the car and met at the hood. “Hey, just trust me, okay? I know that's a lot to ask, but…” Cady trailed off, holding out her hand for Janis to take.

“No, I trust you. I trust you,” her friend said, lacing her hand around Cady’s.

The redhead led them onto a path and down through a wooded area, saying nothing and staring straight ahead.

“Hey, what's the purpose of coming…here?” Janis asked eventually.

“I come here when I need to clear my mind. I've been coming here a lot lately,” Cady said softly.

Janis decided not to ask anymore questions until they walked a little further and reached the part of the path that led down to the lake.

“Okay, really Cady, I'm ready to talk things out, but what's the point of all this?” she said, slightly impatiently.

“When I was here a few days ago, I realized they were evil. I was thinking about what you'd said after the party, that I wasn't pretending anymore. I wasn't. I…I changed because I thought I could have more friends. And that's…you know that's all I ever wanted,” Cady started, it now being her turn for tears to begin slipping down her face.

Janis squeezed her hand. “Hey, hey, let's go find a place to sit down before we keep talking about this,” she said, urging her friend towards a nearby bench overlooking the glittering lake.

They sat down and Cady’s gentle stream of tears turned into full-on sobs. “When you came up to me and accused me of printing out the pages…I'm so sorry about the space dyke thing…I couldn't…couldn't do anything about that,” she choked out.

The brunette rubbed Cady’s back with her free hand.

The redhead hiccuped. “And then when you said you loved me…” she trailed off.

“It's okay, don't worry about talking about this right now-”

Janis was cut off by a sobbing Cady turning towards her and mashing her lips onto the brunette’s.

Her tears leaked over onto Janis’ face.

When Cady pulled away, both girls went completely silent, tears slipping down both of their faces.

“I…I realized I was bi right after I joined the Plastics. And they mocked me for saying it out loud, Regina mocked me for it. Karen and Gretchen didn't really care, but she threatened to tell everyone and said no…nobody would want to associate with me anymore since I was…gross, and greedy,” the redhead recounted softly.

“Oh, Cady, I had no idea,” Janis said, trying to loop an arm around her friend, but realizing that she was still clinging to her hand.

“I just realized we…we kind of both had the same thing happen to us. Yours was worse. But…I liked you. That's…that's how I knew. And I just…when you told me that I'd hurt you and how they'd hurt you…I just don't know how to fix it. I've broken everything so far beyond repair. I miss you and Damian, and I want to help Karen and Gretchen. And I like you,” Cady elaborated.

Janis turned towards her and gently wiped her tears away. “We've both been hurt, we've all been hurt. But I think you can fix it. No, I know you can fix it. You can make it all right,” she said.

Cady sniffled. “Thanks, Janis. Also, um…I'm sorry for uh, kissing you…”

“Sorry? I mean…uh…no need to be sorry,” the brunette replied.

The redhead smirked. “Okay. Good to know,” she said simply, then sighed, “I'm just so overwhelmed and everyone's mad at me, and I don't know-”

Janis placed a small kiss on her cheek. “Cady. Look at me. You're going to fix it, okay? You're going to fix it, and…and maybe I'm still a little mad, so I understand why you're worried. But I know why you did what you did, and what is my fault. And I'm sure everyone else will too,” she said.

Cady sighed. “I just want to go sleep for a million years,” she said.

“I can take you home and you can just-”

“Come with me. My parents are out of the house so we can just…cuddle and watch movies I guess,” the redhead said, blushing near the end.

Janis smiled and squeezed her friend’s hand. “Okay. And you can deal with everything and everyone else tomorrow,” she responded.

“Hey Jan, are you…are you mad at me? It's okay if you say yes. Just after earlier, I…”

Janis sighed. “Maybe still a little. But…I need to work on realizing everything that was my fault, too,” she said.

“Okay. But we can deal with it all later,” Cady affirmed.

“Yes. Absolutely,” her friend replied.

“Good,” the redhead said simply, cupping Janis’ face with her free hand and softly placing another kiss on her lips.

“I'm sorry if you're not ready to deal with this, I just…kissing you is the only good thing that's happened in a long time,” Cady squeaked out.

“Honestly? I'd say the same to you,” Janis said, deciding to throw caution to the wind and help both of them forget everything else, pulling Cady even closer and diving into a deep kiss that tasted like forgiveness.

 

**Author's Note:**

> as always, I hope you enjoyed, and leave any comments or critiscm down below!! I have a couple more drafts for fics with these two I just need,, motivation,, and time,, byput y'know, I'll find some eventually!! <3


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